Toboggan slide



March 30 1926.

H. O. JOHNSON ET AL TOBOGGAN SLIDE Filed Jan. 18 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y m/AZ fi flz fr 4170022! A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 30 1926.

H. o. JOHNSON ETAL TOBOGGAN SLIDE Filed Jan. 18, 1926 Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

UNITED P T-Eur:

HENRY O. masses Ami mum-same, OF'MINIifEAPQL IS, MINNESOTA, AssIeuoR's v To PLAYGROUND & GYMNAsIUM new A CORPORATION on MINNES'U'TA.

IPMENrod, or MinNE'AroLIs, INN'E'S' TA,

ToBO'GGAN- seine.

A anda ion filed January 18,1926. Serial mpe'aem;

7 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY O. Johnson and FRANK J. RUBns, citizens of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota,

have invented certain new and useful 11nprovenients in Toboggan Slides; and we do hereby declare thefollowingf to. be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, "such as will enable others skiiled'inthe art to which it appertains to make and use'the.

generally stated are accomplished. princip le. and within the scope of the inventiom the tobogga-n slide might be used elsewhere than at the waters:ecl ge,- {but its main utility will be found when used at bat-hing beaches such as lakes and other shallow water placesi A commercial form of the device is -illu's' trated in the accompanylng drawings,

wherein like character's indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation showing thetoboggan runway and its supporting trestle-:- work;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the'upper portion.

of the toboggan runway;

3 is a transverse section takenthrough the tobo'ggan runway on the line 3 3; of Fig. 2; and showing alsoin transverse section a tobog'gan positioned on said runway;

Fig. 4 is a b'OttOTn'Pl'Zt-n view of one of the toboggans; I r

Fig. is an enlarged section taken through the toboggan runway on the same line as Fig.3, but slrowingthe toboggan in position to-be properly seated on its runway by slight further movement toward the right; and

Fig. through the :1'earp'ortion of the tobo'ggan on th'e,line6f' 6 of Figs. 4 and;

The toboggan runway comprises rails with laterally Eproj ectinfgrretaining-flanges Or plates andg preferably an'clwa' s shown such rails are in'ade'up of wooden beams 7 having metallic, plates 8 rigidly secured 'on'the top-s thereof.

and projecting-r inward to form the retaining flanges just noted. Also; in this preferred ,6 is a fragmentary. section taken arrangement, the wooden. beams" 7 are rigid- 1y secured by latch screws or bolts directlyto an inclined deck '9. formed on the line :Of

an: oge'e curve and rigidly supported by :asuitable trestleworh I10; Of'course, the rails 7- 8 follow the curve of the deck 9.' At their lower ends, the deokand rails fireflitended for a short distance on approximately straight and nearlyhorizontal'lines for the pro er delivery of the tobogg-an to the water. The trestlework 10 supports a start-ing platform 11 adjacent t'O ;tl1Q upper end of the toboggan ,runway' and it also s'upportsi a stairway 12 on which persons'niay readily Clll'llb to said platform 11.

For an important purpose presently to be noted, the inwardly projecting retaining flange. of one :of-the rail plates 8 is formed with longitudinally spaced; notches 1'3, and

adjacent '10 the other rail and oppOs-i-tethe notches 13,-tliefu 11perancl approximately level portion of the deck 9, is provided with an incl ined cain plateor-surface 14, thefuncti'on of which will be hereina fter described.

The, franieworkof the toboggan is made up oflaterally spaced pairs of laterally spaced wooden side rails 15 andtransverse wooden 'tieha-rs 16, said parts being rigidly connected by -hol'ts,,:nails' or other. suitable means.

he. bottom of the .tobo ggan: is made up of thin hoard'lT, -nailedor -'otlier wiserigidly ,I'S'ecured to the s-ide rails :15and tiebars 16. Other thinbbards 18 are preferably secured on the tops of the tiebars 16 to afford a suitable riding surface for persons on the toboggan.

At suitable points forward of the rear end Jf the toboggan and rearward of the upward- 1y curved front portion of the toboggan, bearing blocks 19, (preferably rectangular wooden blocks), are interposed between the side rails 15 and the underlying bottom boards 17, and the latter are cut away so as to afford clearance for toboggan wheels 20.

These toboggan wheels are preferably of cast.

metal, such as aluminum or other metal that is not corroded by water, and they are secured on and for rotation with short shafts 21, the ends of which are arranged to rotate in the cooperating laterallyspaced wooden.

bearings 19. As shown, said wheels are secured to their cooperating shafts by cotter pins 22 passed through perforations in said shafts and in the hubs of said wheels. Wheel guards in the form of cover plates 23 are nailed or otherwise secured on the tops of the side rails 15 above the front and rear wheels. Preferably, these cover plates are also of wood.

To guide the toboggan wheels on the tops or metallic plates of the rails, we provide metallic retaining brackets of special design and of such construction and arrangement that they also serve to reinforce and stiffen the toboggan. These retaining brackets, in the preferred arrangement ust indicated,

comprise flat plate-like body portions 24' formed with large recesses through which thelower portions of the toboggan wheels 20 project downward below the bottom board 17 for proper engagement with the rails. Nut-equipped bolts 25, of which, as shown, there are four for each bracket, are passed through the plates 24 of said brackets,

through the overlying bottom boards 17,

through the end portions of the bearing blocks 19 and through the overlying side rails' 15. By this arrangement, one port is 7 passed through the front portion and one through the rear portion of each bearing block, and the bearing blocks are rigidly clamped to the side rails and tothe bottom boards and the brackets are caused to stiffen and reinforce the toboggan around the wheel with depending approximately L-shaped retaining lugs 26 formed at their lower ends with horizontal bearing surfaces 26 and vertical bearing surfaces 26*. The horronly when the wheels jump slightly on the I rails, and the latter noted engagement will take place only when the toboggan shifts from one side to the other, but such engagements will positively guide the toboggan and keep the wheels from jumping off from the tracks in the rapid descent of the toboggan down its runway. hen the toboggan is too heavily loaded in front, there will be a tendency at certain parts in the descent of the toboggan for the toboggan tov raise at its rear end, but this is prevented bythe above described retaining lugs. Of course, the retaining brackets will freely run off from the lower ends'of the rails as the to boggan leaves the runway.

It is, of course, of the utmost importance that the toboggan be properly located on the upper portions of therails before starting its descent. This is insured by the cam plate lat and notches 13. Fig. 5 shows the way in which the toboggan must be applied on the rails. By reference to said view, it will be seen that the lefthand lugs 26 are then riding on the tops of the rail plates 8 and that the cam plate 1% will properly direct the.

right-hand lugs under the projecting flange of the right-hand rail plate 8 when the toboggan is moved slightly further toward the right, and that such movement would then causethe lower portions of the left-hand lugs'26 to drop through the notches 13 so that, approximately simultaneously, the

right and left-hand wheels will be properly dropped onto the respective rails. Then a very slight forward movement of the toboggan will interlock the lower ends of the lefthand lugs under the uncut projecting por-, tion of the left-hand rail plate 8 and the l guard rail 28 applied on the platform 11..

vThis guardrail is shown in Fig. l but is broken-away or removed from Fig. 2. The gauge board 27 is so located that the rear end of the toboggan will have to be in quite close engagement therewith at the time that the'lugs 26 are passed downwardthrough the V notches 13 of the I rigl'it-hand retaining flange or plate 8. By this arrangement, be-

fore the tobog 'an can be loaded, it must be moved slightly forward and such forward movement will interlock the toboggan with the rails. The etiiciency of the v scribed has been demonstrated in actual practice and the device has been found strong, durable, safe and generally eflicient.

lVhat we claim is: r

1. A toboggan of the kind described hav ing laterally spaced front-and rear pairs of wheel bee ings, wheels journaled to said bearings and-pro ecting below the bottom of the toboggan, retaining brackets applied to the bottom of the toboggan and providedv with depending guide lugs, said brackets having openings througn which the lower portions of the wheels project for engage. ment with the track, and bolts passed through said brackets, wheel bearings and adjacent parts of the tobogga-n frame.

'2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the-lugs of 'said retaining brackets are formed with integral horizontal and vertical bearing surfaces, the former of which are adapted to engage under the flanges'of the rails and the latter of which-are adapted to engage against the sides of the rails, said two bearing surfaces serving to guide the tcboggan ont-he rails and to prevent the to-' boggan from jumping off from the rails.

3. A toboggan comprising a frame formed by longitudinal and transverse bars and a bottom member, said parts being rigidly connected, said side rails having laterallyspaced longitudinally extended portions at the wheel l1101111tlI1gS,-b62111l1g blocks arranged 111 pairs and interposedbetween the laterally spaced portions of said side rails and said bottom member, wheels located beof said retaining brackets having depending lugs engageable with rails to guide the toboggan 111 its descent on the 1ELllS.'

4:. A toboggan comprising a frame. formed structure above doby longitudinal and transverse bars and a bottom member, said parts beingrigidly connected, said side rails having laterally ;spacedlongitudinally extended port-ions at the wheel-mountings, bearingjblocks ,arranged in pairs and interposed bet-ween :the

laterally spa-ced portions of said side rails and said bottommember, wheels located between the cooperatmg bear-mg blocks, and

provided with shafts mounted therein, said I wheels depending through and below the bottom of the toboggan, and retaining brackets comprising plate-like members ap plied to the bottom of said toboggan below the corresponding wheel bearings and provided with vopenings through which the bottoms of the wheels depend, nut-equipped bolts passed through the. plates ofv said brackets, through said bearing blocks and.

through the overlying laterally spaced portlons of sa d side bars, the plate portions of said retaining brackets having retaining lugs formed. with horizontal and vertical bearing surfaces, the former ofwhich are adapted to engage under rail flanges and the latter of which are arranged toengage against the sides of the rails,' The structure defined in claim 4 winch said bolts are provided w th nuts at their upper ends" and in further combina tion with wheel guards in the formof plates secured to the sidesof the frame overlying the wheels and covering the nuts of said bolts. j m M v 6. A. tobogganrunway comprising rails having laterally projecting retaining flanges, the flanges of oneof saidrails near the up per end thereof having longitudinally spaced notches and said runway: opposite said notches and adjacent the retaining flange of the other'rail having aninclined cam surface, in combination with a tobog gan provided with wheels arranged to runfl on said rails'and having retaining brackets with depending lugs arranged to engage under the retaining flanges of the rails and to bear against the sides of the: rails, the

lugs of said retaining brackets being so spaced that they w ll" pass through the above-noted entrance notches downward of the. one rail flange, and said cam surface,

serving to raise the wheels on the opposite sides of the toboggan abovethe retaining flange of the adjacent'rail when the toboggan is moved laterally to pass the lugs of the opposite side of the toboggan through said entrance notches- V 7. The structure defined in claim 6 in which the above noted cam surface terminates short of the adjacent rail to afford clearance. for longitudinal travel of the cooperating lugs.

8. A'toboggan runway comprising rails having laterally spaced retaining flanges, the flanges of one of the rails near the up per end thereof having at'least one entrance notch, in combination With a toboggan provided With Wheels arranged to run on said rails and having at leastone retaining bracketwith a depending lug arranged to pass through the notch of said retaining flange and to engage under the same, and a gauge stop at the rear end of the runway,

with which the rear end of the toboggan must be. quite closely engaged in order to 1 position its lug for'passage through said entrance notch. V

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures.

' HENRY O. JOHNSON.

FRANK J; BUBES. 

